Days Before DHS Funding Runs Out, The Post-Shutdown Debate Is Heating Up

WASHINGTON — TSA agents would remain in airports, patrol agents would still be manning the border and Coast Guard officers would continue monitoring the waters if the Department of Homeland Security were to shut down.

But out of the public eye, there would be major problems, DHS officials warned Monday, as the Feb. 27 deadline to fund the department creeps closer.

“A shutdown of DHS would have serious consequences and amount to a serious disruption in our ability to protect the homeland,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said at a press conference at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services headquarters.

Earlier on Monday, Obama appealed to governors in his push for a DHS funding bill, saying they should think of the department employees who work in their states.

“These are folks who, if they don’t have a paycheck, are not going to be able to spend that money in your states,” Obama said at a National Governors Association meeting. “It will have a direct impact on your economy, and it will have a direct impact on America’s national security, because their hard work helps to keep us safe. And as governors, you know that we can’t afford to play politics with our national security.”

The Huffington Post